Savage and Rumbaugh

Question 1

1.From the study of Savage-Rumbaugh outline two methods that were used to record the lexigrams used by the chimpanzees. (4)

Answer 1

When the chimpanzees used the lexigram indoors on the computer this could be automatically recorded. Outdoors the record was made by hand and entered into the computer at the end of each day. Each utterance was classified as 1) correct or incorrect, 2) spontaneous, imitated or structured.

Question 2

Describe two differences between the language acquisition of pygmy chimpanzees and common chimpanzees. (4)

Answer 2

Difference 1 – regards to the ease of language acquisition. Kanzi and Mulika acquired language with greater ease than Sherman and Austin who required extensive training.Difference 2 – is the ability to comprehend spoken English words. Kanzi and mulika are the only chimpanzees recorded who have been able to respond to spoken English without any contextual cues. Difference 3 – is in the specificity with which the lexigrams were used. Sherman and Austin were inclined to acquire broad differentiations such as between drink and eat whereas kanzi and Mulika spontaneously learned to differentiate between specific words. Difference 4 – was that Kanzi and Mulika could direct someone other than himself to do something

Question 3

3. Savage-Rumbaugh claim that Kanzi and Mulika were exposed to language in a different way to Sherman and Austin. a)Explain in what way this was different. (2)
   b) How might this difference have affected their development of language? (2)

Answer 3

In contrast with Sherman and Austin, Kanzi and Mulika were not trained to use lexigrams. People around them modelled symbol use in the course of communicating with each other and the chimpanzees. They emphasised their activities vocally and visually by pointing to appropriate lexigrams

• These differences could have led to differences in performance between the two species. Also the pygmy chimpanzees had more of an advantage of acquiring language as they were exposed to symbol use in their environment so they were familiar to it than the common chimpanzees.

Question 4

4. a) Savage-Rumbaugh conclude that kanzi’s use of language might be a ‘precursor of syntactical structure’. Explain what is meant by syntax. (2)

Answer 4

• Syntax is a set of rules that govern the structure of sentences and how to combine symbols. It enables us to understand the difference between ‘Jim kissed Mary’ and ‘Mary kissed Jim’.

Question 5

c) Describe one other conclusion from the study of Savage-Rumbaugh. (2)

Answer 5

• Pygmy chimpanzees have a propensity for the acquisition of symbols. The study demonstrates four key differences between pygmy and common chimpanzees; 1) the ease of language acquisition, 2) the ability to comprehend spoken English, 3) the specificity with which the lexigrams were used and 4) use of syntactical structure.

Question 6

5. Identify two similarities between Kanzi’s acquisition of language and the way children acquire language. (4)

Answer 6

• One similarity is Associative symbol learning where one learns to associate specific sounds with specific objects.
• A second similarity is not needing any training to acquire language; Kanzi used words appropriately from the start.
• Like normal children Kanzi and mulika usually used words appropriately from the start.

Question 7

6. a) Savage-Rumbaugh used formal tests with the chimpanzees. Why were such tests necessary? (2)
   b) Describe one of the formal tests that was used test Kanzi. (2)

Answer 7

• Formal tests are more likely to be valid and reliable as they are less open to bias and subjectivity. Also to ensure that their performance was not due to contextual cues or inadvertent glances.

1) Tested by being shown photographs and then asked to select the right lexigram.
2) Listening to a word or a synthesized version of the word and then asked to select the right photograph or lexigrams.

Question 8

7. In the study by Savage-Rumbaugh explain the criterion used to decide whether a chimpanzee had acquired true comprehension of a word. (4)

Answer 8

• What was required was a spontaneous utterance which could be verified on nine out of ten occurrences. For example kanzi might indicate he wanted to go to the treehouse and this would be verified if he then took the experiementer to this location, producing a positive concordance score.